Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov congratulated Turkmen and Russian hero Oleg Kononenko on Cosmonautics Day, local TV channel Altyn Asyr reported.
"The study and exploration of outer space is an integral part of modern science and opens up new prospects of development for all humankind. With many years of hard work, you have made a great contribution to this noble cause," the message runs.
Kononenko was born in 1964 in Turkmenabat, Lebap province of Turkmenistan, where he finished secondary school. He later enrolled at the aviation institute in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and moved to Russia after some time.
He made his first flight in a Soyuz spacecraft in April 1996. After that, Oleg held the record for the longest stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Kononenko usually sends a special message to the Turkmen people when he is on another mission to the ISS. For example, in 2012, he addressed a New Year's greeting.
"My dear fellow countrymen! When I look at the Earth from space orbit, I see the geographic shape of my home country. And I have never lost the feeling of gratitude to the country where I was born and grew up, to the sincere and hardworking people who became my native land".
Credits: Eziz Boyarov, Ashgabat
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